Order intake and scheduling

The operator starts with the patient, imaging organization and effective modality definition. The patient’s consent scope matters before an examination is planned. An order number and name give the team a way to identify the request; the planned date and named owner tell people who is accountable for the next action. The authorized radiologist is recorded on the order so report review has a specific destination.

Scheduling changes the order from Ordered to Scheduled. The team should settle which organization owns the exam, which modality definition applies at the planned date, and who can change the schedule. An active facility and modality provide the context for the operator’s decision. A date on its own cannot identify a modality, patient or accountable owner.

• Identify the request. Record the patient, organization, modality, order number and owner together.
• Plan the date. Compare the scheduled date with the modality’s effective window before changing status.
• Retain the transition. Read the status history to see who scheduled the order and on which revision.

Agree who may create and reschedule an order, which patient identity source is authoritative, and how consent scope is checked. Decide how the team selects an active organization and modality for the planned date. Record the authorized radiologist before the report handoff. Rehearse a changed date that falls outside the selected modality’s effective window.

Take an order for a patient at one facility with a scheduled examination next week. The operator confirms the patient reference, the modality’s effective window, the owner and the authorized radiologist before placing it on the calendar. If the date changes, the order remains the same identifiable request. The status history should show when it moved to Scheduled and who acted. When the exam is performed, the accession number and study identity attach to that order rather than to a second, disconnected request.

The operator should see the same order number in the open list and calendar. Check that its owner, patient and modality still agree after a date change. The status history should show the move from Ordered to Scheduled with its actor and source revision. Do not create a second request merely to change the plan; the accession and DICOM study identifiers later belong to the existing order.

• Open Imaging Orders — Work through orders still in progress, with the patient, modality, owner and planned date together.
• Imaging Orders Calendar — Review scheduled examinations by date and open each order for its full context.
• My imaging orders — Find the orders assigned to the current operator.

Follow the related process and the data model for the records behind each decision.